One of a few available compilations that riff on the presence of the word Harlem in jazz material -- mostly from the late '20s and early '30s -- Living Era's
Drop Me Off in Harlem includes a majority of the musical figures active in the Harlem Renaissance of the period. Among the excellent performances are
Duke Ellington's strutting "Harlem Air Shaft,"
Fats Waller's crawl through "Harlem Fuss," and
Fletcher Henderson's evocation of a stylish night out, "Underneath the Harlem Moon." The performers aren't all African-American either;
Jack Teagarden and
Johnny Mercer, a pair of Southern boys with jazz in their veins, combine for "Christmas Night in Harlem," and the version of "Harlem Nocturne" heard here is
Woody Herman's.